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Les Soldes! Paris’ Unbeatable Summer Sales Have Started

La Mom in Paris is a hilarious blog about an American mom living a très Parisian life in the city of lights. From encounters with French frat boys (yes, apparently they do exist) to profiling the Parisian Jet Set Dog, her witty anecdotes about her expat circle of friends truly make us feel as if we were there with her. Here, she gives us a fantastic breakdown of how to navigate the summer sales, Parisienne-style!

Ladies and gentlemen, get your running shoes out and your boxing gloves on.

C’est les soldes!

Wednesday marked the beginning of the fabled twice-annual deep-discount French sales.

Fabled, you might ask? Let’s just say that even Cendrillon can find a dress or two to go with those glass stilettos as prices fall to rock bottom over the 5-week sales period.

And why the boxing gloves? If it’s anything like last year’s Zadig & Voltairemarkdowns, you’ll need ‘em. Normally prim and proper 16th arrondissement demoiselles morphed into banshees as they duked it out over cashmere sweaters – even resorted to slugging each other with their Hermès Birkin bags to get at the last ELVIS-logo pullover.

Trust me, those sapphire-and-diamond rings can do some damage. Better come with a game plan.

Here are La Mom’s tips for making the most of the summer soldes:

1) Plan your attack.

Get in touch with your inner Napoléon and map out your strategy. This is war, baby, so get used to it. La Mom’s personal picks this year are:

Comptoir de Cotonniers for their juicy prints and structured linen dresses

Les Petites for their basics in a vivid palette (check out the ink blue)

Anne Fontaine – because you always need a crisp white shirt

Erica Berman

2) If you love it, buy it.

Don’t bother looking around at another store to see if they have a better price or wait until it’s marked down even further. If you find something you like in your size, snap it up immédiatement! Stores have problems keeping sizes in stock at the best of times, and it’s even worse during the sales.

3) Think like a Frenchwoman.

Parisiennes never buy because the price is right. It’s because they’ve found the perfect pair of shoes for their cocktail dress, or that gold clutch they’ve been hunting for two seasons straight. They only buy what they need – and what makes them look great, bien sûr!

Erica Berman

4) Break out your new vocabulary.

It’s inevitable – if you get a great deal, someone’s bound to be jealous. Just make sure you have the Français to make the loser pardon their French.

Written by La Mom. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

Written By

La Mom - An American Mom in Paris

La Mom is an American mom living in Paris for a très long time. She has a French husband (Big Cheese) and two French Fries (Big Fry & Small Fry).
You may reach for the Dorito chips when your kids stress you out, but she keeps things under control with a constant flow of champagne, croissants, and café au lait! View Website

[…] is getting ready to pounce on items she has secretly coveted all Fall. In all honesty, though, the soldes are often the one moment of fashion folly many Parisiennes allow themselves. For decades, one […]

[…] is getting ready to pounce on items she has secretly coveted all Fall. In all honesty, though, the soldes are often the one moment of fashion folly many Parisiennes allow themselves. For decades, one […]